Pieter-Dirk Uys’s latest book, published by Missing Ink — One Man Shows: The Mbeki HIV Renaissance (2000-2009) — is available free to read or download:

Download the text of One Man Shows: The Mbeki HIV Renaissance

Announcing Volume Three!

The first volume — One Man Shows: The black and white years (1981-1994) — available since December 2021, has been enjoyed all over the world by readers interested in exploring our long walk to freedom and democracy.

The second volume — One Man Shows: The Mandela Rainbow Honeymoon (1992-1999) — focuses mainly on the five years of Nelson Mandela’s presidency, starting in 1992 with An Evening with Pieter-Dirk Uys, when racist chalk promised to become democratic cheese. After You ANC nothing yet!, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s emotional TRC is showcased in Truth Omissions, while in Darling, Evita se Perron celebrates a revisionist history of old South Africa with Tannie Evita Praat Kaktus, as well as present realities, all Live from Boerassic Park. In 1999, Evita Bezuidenhout addresses Parliament and then goes on an extensive election trek from Darling to Pietersburg, while with the dawn of a new century and a new president, Dekaffirnated makes its own statement with humour and optimism where possible. It all really makes sense of Tannie Evita’s favourite slogan: ‘We don’t need a crystal ball to see where our country is going. The future of South Africa is certain; it’s just the past that is unpredictable!’

Both books are still available to download and read on my website.

The third volume — One Man Shows: The Mbeki HIV Renaissance (2000-2009) — welcomes the new century with a detailed focus on the HIV/Aids pandemic in South Africa. President Thabo Mbeki’s confusing denials that HIV does not lead to Aids become the inspiration behind For Fact’s Sake and PDU’s visits to South African schools with an entertainment to alert learners with humour. Foreign Aids toured throughout South Africa and then internationally to the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA, winning the Off-Broadway OBIE Award in 2002. Uys’s subsequent shows, The End is Naai, Icons & Aikonas and Evita for President, will remind readers of the need to inform truth with humour in spite of fatal state denials. His chorus line of male, female and political characters toyi-toyi where angels fear to tread. In 2008 Mrs Evita Bezuidenhout launched her Evita’s Peoples Party (the EPP) as a voter-educational reminder, climaxing in Elections & Erections, which celebrates yet another democratically elected ANC government and a new president, Jacob Zuma. This third volume is freely available to all following its international launch at the 2024 Franschhoek Literary Festival from 17 to 19 May 2024.

The first two volumes are already being shared by school children in South Africa. They choose sketches from the revues of the 1980s and 1990s and give them life. Many young women enjoy the Winnie Mandela sketches, which also inspire them to ask why the Mother of the Nation was in a satirical revue in the early days of our democracy. This gives South African history a chance to also be heard in the new century, while also inspiring questions from young readers who are surprised by the humour and the enjoyment of the Mandela years. It is ironic that in 2024, focus on HIV and Aids is still relevant and urgent in spite of the availability of expensive medications.

Applications for performance rights, both professional and amateur, should be addressed to:

PD Uys Productions
productions@evita.co.za

But please read this collection of one-man shows with pleasure.  We will be adding further PDU one-man show collections in future.

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